11 Popular Books That Deserve The Hype And You Need To Read ASAP

No matter your pronouns, given the right training, anyone can become a book girl this fall.

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Instagram: @bookish.aquarius

This coming-of-age book by Stephen Chbosky is an easy read and full of beautiful sentences that should probably be hung in the Louvre (can you tell I’ve never been). Even if you’re a phony, the film is a masterpiece and you can totally pretend to be well-read. Although, not being able to get through this book might tell you that reading isn’t your calling... If you get really invested you can go through the tunnel in Pittsburgh driving to "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac (that’s what a real book girl would do). The only excuse to not read this book is maybe if you were homeschooled in high school--maybe. Sometimes I leave the book wondering, is this really my favorite book, or has it just supplied me the most Instagram captions? Just because millennial's tattoos of "we accept the love we think we deserve" got cringey, it doesn't make it any less true.

2. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

This book by Emily Henry is nearly 400 pages, but it’s complete bliss…. I mean, unless you are the type of evil person who hates "friends-to-lovers" tropes. It’s also over the span of a decade, so you leave it feeling well versed in these people’s lives. I mean, I know Poppy and Alex better than a lot of people. The horned-up sex scenes are certainly a plus, too. Who said you need to read classics to be a book girl?

3. It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover

Instagram: @readwith_meg

This book had TikTok by the reins over the past year. Not only does it have a complex plot and characters with depth, it holds all of the components of a proper fanfic: teen romance, a love triangle, and the common trope of writing love letters. Despite how corny this book was, I couldn't help but feel my eyes getting watery. Additionally, the rights to make it a film were optioned by Jane the Virgin's Rafael, Justin Baldoni, and his company Wayfarer Entertainment. Although there is no proof of it being a film, this surely gives us the right to cross our fingers, right?

4. The Maze Runner Series by James Dashner

Instagram: @best.books.forever

Nothing like reading about a dystopian society, preparing for our very own! If you want to get three books under your belt easily, you can rush through these bad boys by James Dashner. As someone who read them for the first time as an adult, I can say that they are actually good. I mean, there are five, but the fourth one is so painful that some people (who will not be named) couldn’t even get through it. I mean, it actually took that person (again, nameless) over 40 days to read a YA novel, not very book girl of them. Plus, the whole point is to imagine young Dylan O'Brien being sexy, and a prequel with different characters doesn’t really allow for that.

5. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Instagram: @softestreader

Despite its title, this book by Taylor Jenkins Reid has all kinds of relationships, full of sex and movie-type love. Every kind of person could find something worth learning in this novel and its revealing secrets. It’s mainly told from the perspective of Evelyn Hugo, a Marilyn-Monroe-esque movie star, and switches back and forth between present-day and past tense for her memoir. All I could think was, how the hell is this lady going to have seven husbands? But it all unfolds perfectly and it left me feeling a little behind, I mean, I should at least be on my second by now!

6. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

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So obvious, right? WRONG. People always criticize this book by saying all Holden does is criticize things, I mean c’mon, look in the mirror. This book by the poetic J.D. Salinger is full of quotes that can change your life in a simple first-person narrative. I think it’s important to read this book right out of high school when the angst starts to make more sense. It's also about a lot more than a kid with depression, but about mourning the loss of life in general. If someone hates Holden Caulfield, they are simply not fully evolved yet — and clearly not a book girl. It’s especially a good one if you love controversy and Twitter discourses!

7. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Instagram: @pagesofzest

Although Salley Rooney’s more popular book is Normal People, I think this first-person, love triangle book is easier to place yourself into, especially for someone new to reading. It isn’t a show yet, but conversations have been had and it's rumored that people have been cast. Maybe I’m rude for suggesting this because my friends actually only gave it three stars, but let’s be real, they’re not real book girls like you and me. It tackles so many struggles that the average person is not immune to, like infidelity, love, addiction, friendship, and simply just trying to grow up. I do have to give you a heads up though that the book doesn’t use quotation marks, which can be hard to get used to, but not impossible (at least for a book girl).

8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

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Want to feel like you’re reading a complex classic, but actually be reading at a seventh grade level? This book has lots of valuable lessons without the need for keeping a dictionary by your side (I am still personally scarred from giving up on Jane Austen's Emma). Plus, it has a modern remake with Timothée Chalamet, Saoirse Ronan, and Florence Pugh. And they’re all, like, super beautiful. This book is just a masterpiece, despite being for... children.

9. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

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If you are one of the few people that weren’t required to read or SparkNotes this in high school, it’s actually a really good starter book. This novel has poetic lines and fits in a great story in less than 200 pages. I didn’t even know classic novels were allowed to be that short. I don’t know how much of the story will stick with me forever because it is so simple, but the concept of large parties being more intimate than small ones definitely will. That, like a few parts of the book, made me rethink my own ideas and I genuinely learned. Learning is literally fun.

10. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks

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You might be thinking, oh God, not a Nicholas Sparks book. But this isn't a Nicholas Sparks book. This is THE Nicholas Sparks book. This novel is so simple, but so poetic. The book actually made me cry harder than the movie. I guess at the end of the movie all my mind could think was: dude, let her go. And I don’t care how much I love someone — I am not telling them the same story hundreds of times. But still, it's a cute story that just works.

11. And Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

Instagram: @concerningnovels

I don’t think you can really call yourself a true book girl without getting this series under your belt. Something so special about it is that the books get more intricate and complex as they go on. The first book is a simple read while the final one will leave you in tears, feeling like you’re saying goodbye to your friends.